Thursday, August 29, 2013

At a recent County Commissioner's
Meeting the issue of dog tags was raised. It seems someone was going
through the many, many sources the County looks to for funding their
ongoing operations and a pair of inquiring eyes realized it had been
a long time since the fee for licensing your dog had been raised and
the cost of licensing dogs in Ashtabula is lower than other counties.
So, they decided they should raise the price.

Some would ask what good it does you,
as a citizen and taxpayer, to license your dog or anything else. A
license is, “Official or legal permission to do or own a
specified thing.” In two counties of Nevada they license
prostitution. Since prostitution is generally a crime those
purchasing a license do not have to worry about being arrested.

What service do you receive when you
buy a license for your dog? Do they inspect the dog to ensure it is
healthy? Provide tattooing so your pooch can be returned to you?

Recently, the County Commissioners
hired Carl Feather as a bounty hunter to find people who are renting
a room in their homes so they can be charged a bed tax. Some people
are doing so to make ends meet at a time when money is daily worth
less and so must be stretched further. Commissioner Joe Moroski came
over to chat with some of us attending after a meeting and was
enthusiastic about setting Carl on the hunt. There was money to be
found, he said. But what about the impact on people just trying to
scratch by, he was asked. A long pause ensued.

Also recently, the new owner of the
old Sky Bank in Rock Creek was shocked to discover the property tax
on the building was set for taxation, not at its present purchase
price, was higher, $35,000, but for its former value. The difference
this made in taxes was significant. Instead of starting a business,
desperately needed in Ashtabula County, she is now considering a move
to Geauga or Lake Counties.

When times are tough it is important to
encourage people to try new ways to build their incomes and new
businesses, otherwise how are things to improve and people find new
ways to prosper? People understand tightening their belts, cutting
back, and focusing on essentials.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The room where Ashtabula's three
Commissioners meet is clearly intended to hold a numerous public.
Located in a historic and well-maintained brick building in Jefferson
Township, gives the appearance of stability and community.
Appearances can be deceiving.

Each time I have entered the lovely
room echoes with emptiness, even as the commissioners, ensconced at
an elevated table in the front, listen as the always numerous list of
resolutions are read for their approval.

The titles of the resolutions do not
convey any substantial meaning to the listener and no explanations
are offered. After the title is read the commissioners are polled,
and the yeas are counted. Discussion in the public meeting is as
rare as turkey teeth. Discussion takes place in closed 'work
sessions.' While I cannot confirm this certainly the commissioners
must talk about these issues sometime.

Last Tuesday I attended a public
meeting, where the opinions of those using the program could be
heard. The commissioners had solicited the public on the subject of
funding the county program which provides essential transportation
for the disabled and elderly, Ashtabula County Transportation (ACT),
who otherwise would not be able to get to medical appointments, buy
groceries, or handle their other essential needs.

As I stepped into the room, which with
the present arrangement accommodates around a hundred for seating,
at 1:17pm. Three other people sat like small islands in a sea of
empty chairs. The head of the ACT Program arrived later. This wait
provided a break for solid waste management.

The one ACT user present had managed to
obtain a ride to the meeting but was without transport for a return
to her home. Others, facing the same problem, had not attended.

When the time for the public to be
heard arrived the only individual from the media stood up and walked
out. It was 2:08pm.

The focus was entirely on the cost of
the service and whether or not to renew the contract with the present
provider, MV Transport, located in California. On this point
discussion did take place among the commissioners, but left the
listener feeling this issue should have been researched in advance,
in those work sessions, with other options already considered and
evaluated. A deadline was now ominously approaching.

But the commissioners reassured those
listening they were doing their best to handle the governance for the
county. This may be true but provides no reassurance.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Suckers
were silvery fish which came up the streams in the springtime.
Fishing for suckers meant putting on your boots to wade Field's
Brook, carrying your seven foot spear. It was 1944 and Lefty was
ten, one of a big Italian family on East 16th Street,
where Field's Brook enters the harbor the day he encountered a
Northern Pike, over three feet long. Thinking it was a railroad tie,
he touched it with his spear. Erupting in motion, the fish was gone,
and so was Lefty, each shocked by their encounter.

Telling his
uncle about it later Dr. Harry Cabissero, exclaimed he had never seen
a fish that size when fishing in Canada.

The
Iroquois called it, “River of Many Fishes,” and
so it was.

Carmen
Cabissero, always known as Lefty, grew up to serve in the U. S. Army
during Korea, coming home to work for the railroads and play
baseball. Along with raising a family, public service was also
important to him, then, and still today as he serves as secretary for
the Port Authority.

Not
so much concerned about a person's party, Lefty voted for the man or
woman he believed understood and supported the people. This was one
of the reasons he became a supporter, and delegate, for a
presidential candidate who felt the same.

On
April 29, 1972 Lefty organized a reception for U. S. Senator Henry
Martin “Scoop” Jackson's primary run against George McGovern at
the Ashtabula Hotel on Main Avenue. About Jackson Lefty said, “He
was the best president we never had – a strong clean air and water
man, a strong law-and-order man.” Speaking of the Senator
Reagan said , “Scoop Jackson was convinced there's no place for
partisanship in foreign and defense policy.” Given his
straight from the shoulder attitudes, Jackson would probably broaden
his statement today.

The
reception was standing room only, inspiring excitement and hope.
When Jackson was forced to drop out many in Ashtabula were
disappointed.

In
1972 the long downward slide of the town had already begun.
Industries were pumping toxic waste into land and water and the
migration of kids to places offering more opportunity had started.

Lefty
smiles when he remembers the Italian community here and how people
pulled together, caring for each other. It was different, he says,
and he knows together we can renew the community which was once so
filled with potential.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Max
Wulff and his wife, Marilyn, took the plunge into aquaponics after
studying the subject for some time. Today, they sell their happy
greens at the Farmer's Market on Bridge Street, Sundays between 10am
and 2pm.

The
greens raised by the Wulffs are unlike those you encounter in the
grocery store. The kale is sweet, but spicy, because, Max said as he
presented me with a sample, it is harvested young and tender. Kale,
he said, is far better raw than cooked. The sample was all he
promised, as were the mustard greens.

The
Wulff's koi are fed seven times a day, and always appear to be
watching for more, their noses and heads breaking the surface of the
water, eyes gleaming. If not for the net
over the tank they might well leap out, so eager are these koi
for the delux koi snacks received.

Aquaponics
drafted our fish friends, including koi, to serve the plants raised
by the Wulffs, in the cause of producing healthy produce entirely
rooted in water. Marilyn raised the floating bed on which the
couple's youngest seedlings reside so I could see their thread like
roots.

Max
had a stand at Westside Market in Cleveland, retiring to Ashtabula
several years ago. The possibility of growing produce stayed with
him, resulting in the line of grow tanks in the couple's basement.
Like a freeze frame photo, you can see the plants progress over the
six weeks it takes them to grow to market maturity.

Ashtabula
was still the hunting ground of Native Americans when hydroponics
originated in Mexico City. In 1929 it was revived by William
Frederick Gericke of the University of California at Berkeley, using
the term, aquaculture. This was replaced with 'hydroponics' when he
discovered the term already in use in another application. Gericke's
tomato vines astonished the public, growing to twenty-five feet in
height in his back yard with his mineral nutrient solutions rather
than soil.

Max
commented everyone asks when he will have tomatoes.

Today,
aquaponics is an integrated part of the permaculture and the local
growing movement, working around the country to ensure everyone can
be fed from within their local area.

For
Ashtabulians, the question may well be if Wall Eyed Pike can be
substituted for koi. If it is possible the Wulffs will let you know
as they extend the edge of the envelope for happy organic greens.

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